Daytona 24: Harold Primat race report

Primat disappointed at early Daytona exit
Harold Primat was left a frustrated spectator for most of the Daytona 24
Hours after a blown engine forced his SAMAX Motorsport Riley Pontiac into
retirement after less than four hours.
The...

Primat disappointed at early Daytona exit

Harold Primat was left a frustrated spectator for most of the Daytona 24
Hours after a blown engine forced his SAMAX Motorsport Riley Pontiac into
retirement after less than four hours.

The Geneva-based driver managed just one full stint at the wheel, most of
which saw the car struggling with a down-on-power engine, before his race
was over and admitted his disappointment at being forced to retire with
less than a sixth of the race distance completed.

"SAMAX have a good record here at Daytona, so I expected a lot more,"
Harold said. "I'm really disappointed because this year, with drivers
such as Jimmy Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya, the field was so strong and
I was really looking forward to competing on-track with those guys for
the full race. Everyone knows Daytona is a very tough event, but it would
have been nice to have seen a bit more of it."

SAMAX's problems began early in the race during the car's first stint.
Champ Car ace Ryan Dalziel reported a misfire, and although the issue
seemed to have improved after his first pit stop, more engine problems
affected Primat's stint at the wheel.

"At one point I was fighting with the Brumos Porsche and got a much
better exit from the chicane," Harold said. "I used the advantage to
try and pass on the straight, but the engine just didn't have the power
to do so. It felt flat, with a lack of torque and really struggled for
power exiting the corners. After two thirds of the stint the engine lost
a cylinder, but the team asked me to stay out so we could pit during a
caution period, so I kept running on seven cylinders.

"The team tried to fix it at my pit stop when I handed over to Tomas
Enge, and although they thought the problem had been solved, Tomas was
still having trouble and the engine eventually blew halfway through his
stint.

"It's such a shame because Daytona is fantastic fun. You can really
race here in these cars, but we hardly got a chance to. After signing for
a team with such a strong history in this event, retiring after less than
four hours was definitely not what I expected."